The list of coaches unhappy with opposing attendance allowances is growing.
Less than a week after Vikings coach Mike Zimmer made his gripes about a potential disadvantage as the visiting team amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Bills coach Sean McDermott voiced similar displeasure Monday.
"I think it's honestly ridiculous that there will be, on the surface, what appears to be a playing field that's like that -- inconsistently across the league with the different away stadiums," McDermott said, via ESPN's Marcel Louis-Jacques.
McDermott's response was in relation to the Monday news that fellow AFC East rival Miami will be hosting a limited capacity total of 13,000 fans for the Dolphins' Week 2 home opener set to be played against -- you guessed it -- the Buffalo Bills.
NFL teams have taken a logical approach to the issue of whether they can invite fans to their stadiums in 2020 with a variety of results being produced. Some teams, like the Raiders, won't have fans at all this season, which is of course disappointing for a team moving into a brand-new stadium in a new market. Others, like the Lions and Broncos, announced fans won't attend some of their early games, while leaving room for changes later in the season. The Dolphins are one of the fortunate franchises that will welcome roughly 20 percent of their fans to their stadium for their first home contest.
Zimmer's and McDermott's points aren't entirely wrong, because 13,000 fans will make more of an impact than zero fans, even if that impact is much less than a typical home crowd. But in this unprecedented time, very little seems to be all that fair. It's likely McDermott won't be the last coach to voice his opinion on this.
